Year : 1984 (Bad Reputation Records Limited Edition 2025)
Style : Hard Rock , Classic Rock
Country : Ireland
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 233 mb
Bio:
Mama's Boys were a 1980s hard rock group from County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland.The band includes the three McManus brothers Pat, a.k.a."The Professor", (guitar, fiddle), John (bass, vocals), and Tommy (drums).Later in their career they became a four-piece,adding Rick Chase on vocals in 1986, who in turn was replaced by Keith Murrell in 1987 due to Rick's ill health. Keith was later replaced with Connor McKeon in 1989 who was subsequently replaced with Mike Wilson in 1990.The McManus brothers grew up on a farm near the village of Derrylin, County Fermanagh, and started their musical career as award-winning traditional Irish musicians but were inspired by the Irish celtic rock band, Horslips, as well as younger brother Tommy's passion for the drums to form a rock band.In the late 1970s, the brothers had become fans of Horslips and attended their gigs at every possible opportunity. They eventually got to know and became friends with the band members. It was around that time that they started their own band which was originally called Pulse before they changed it to Mama's Boys. Barry Devlin of Horslips heard about their band and went to see them rehearse at their home. He was suitably impressed and offered them a support slot for Horslips' 1979 tour.Although their heroes Horslips mixed traditional music with hard rock and the McManus brothers were top notch traditional musicians, Mama's Boys did not really go for the Celtic fusion sound, apart from the occasional fiddle solo by Pat, but went for a harder edged more heavy metal sound.They recorded their first self-funded album Official Album (re-released in 1981 as Official Bootleg) in 1980 in only four hours. In 1981 they were invited to support Hawkwind on their UK tour. They recorded and self-financed their second album, entitled Plug It In in 1982,and achieved a hit single in Ireland with the most pop-oriented song on the album, "Needle in the Groove".The third album Turn It Up was released in 1983.The same year they toured with Thin Lizzy on that band's farewell tour, played at the Reading Rock Festival and signed a worldwide record deal with Jive Records.The first album released on Jive contained some songs previously released on early albums but completely re-recorded with a few new songs. One of the new songs, a cover of Slade's "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" was released as a single and reached number 54 in the American charts.The video for the song got a lot of airplay on MTV and helped the band to become known in the US which they toured in 1984. Coincidentally, the American heavy metal band Quiet Riot also released their cover version of the song at the same time as Mama's Boys, but Quiet Riot's version gained more airplay.1985's Power and Passion album broke into the Billboard top 100 in the US and the band toured in the US, Europe and Japan. During the European leg of the tour Tommy had a relapse of leukemia which he had been treated for as a child and a replacement drummer Jimmy DeGrasso was brought in to complete the tour. The recovering Tommy re-joined the tour in Ireland but had to be rushed back to hospital after another relapse.In 1987, former Airrace vocalist Keith Murrell was brought in after Rick Chase started having trouble with his vocal cords and they recorded the album Growing Up The Hard Way.Murrell left in 1988 to join Cliff Richard as a backing singer. Connor McKeon replaced Keith on 1989, but this was short lived and he was replaced by Mike Wilson.In 1990, with a new vocalist, Mike Wilson, and under new management they moved their base to the UK. The live album Live Tonite was released in 1991 and the band toured extensively in Europe. They released the album Relativity in 1992.While on tour in Italy in 1993, Tommy became ill again and the tour had to be cancelled. The following year Tommy underwent a bone marrow transplant but he did not survive.His brothers were devastated and Mama's Boys did not continue. On the first anniversary of Tommy's death, John composed a traditional lament on the low whistle for his brother and this led to himself and Pat revisiting their traditional Irish music roots and forming a Celtic/new age group called Celtus.In 2003, Pat McManus joined with Irish rock band 'Indian' for two albums and live shows. After this he joined the Painkillers for a short while, and then formed "Pat McManus and High Voltage" which in 2007 became the Pat McManus Band with (Marty McDermott on bass and Paul Faloon on drums).The Pat McManus Band released Tattooed in Blue in 2018, and an acoustic guitar based album called Rewind in 2019, alongside a European tour.
Album:
Reissue experts Bad Reputation bring back MAMA’S BOYS‘ iconic self-titled 1984 “Mama’s Boys” album in its definitive version, with an impressive collection of bonus material. There’s a regular CD with 3 bonus tracks, but this is the Limited Editon, only 300 copies on sale exclusively via Bad Reputation’s website.“Mama’s Boys [Bad Reputation remaster Limited 2-CD Edition / 11 Bonus Tracks]” a treasure trove for fans, revisiting the band’s heyday while adding extra gems for collectors and newcomers alike. Additionaly, it’s presented with its original cover art.“Mama’s Boys” is the Irish guys first international / major label release, produced by expert Chris Tsangarides – who also supplied keyboards – to provide the band with a more melodic, radio friendly sound so in-voge circa 1984, still retaining their hard rock edge.Here the McManus bros re-recorded many of their best known tracks from their 3 successful independent albums, plus a new track and a cover of Slade’s classic ‘Mama We’re All Crazy Now’.This is the first time “Mama’s Boys” is being remastered, and among the bonus there’s a few rare tracks that haven’t been on CD before.This album introduced Mama’s Boys to America and showcased the band had the chops, the songs, the skills, and the looks to be one of the biggest hard rock bands of the 1980s, and earned their credibility opening for Rush, Ratt, and Bon Jovi, among others.“Mama’s Boys” includes some of the band’s best cuts, and their cover of Slade’s “Mama Weer All Crazee Now” — that was released as a single, saw decent MTV airplay, and reached number 54 on the American charts, but was ultimately trumped by Quiet Riot’s number one version of the same song.This eponymous release Mama’s Boys was intended to cherry-pick the best tracks from the band’s first years of independent activity as a means for new label, Jive Records / Arista, to introduce them to America. Thanks to Tsangarides the songs ended being more accessible, polished, with some keyboards into the mix.Among the highlights we find a slick new version of “Needle in the Groove”, the favorite “In the Heat of Night,” “Runaway Dreams”, the AORish “Midnight Promises”, and their second LP standout “Gentleman Rogues”. The cover of Slade’s “Mama Weer All Crazee Now” is fun, and has a swirling solo by Pat ‘The Professor’ McManus.This “Mama’s Boys” 40th Anniversary remastered reissue by Bad Reputation is excellent, with a fuller sound quality.“Mama’s Boys” is a must have for all Mama’s Boys and ’80s classic hard rock fans, and this is the definitive version to own.
Line Up:
John McManus - Lead Vocals, Bass Guitar
Pat McManus - Guitars, Talkbox [Voice Box], Fiddle
Tommy McManus - Drums, Percussion
+ guests:
Chris Tsangarides – Keyboards, Producer
Pete Harris – Fairlight
John Elstar – Harmonica (track 5)
Dee O'Malley (tracks: 5), Jody Turner (tracks: 5), Julie Turner (tracks: 5) - Backing Vocals
Production:
Recorded At – Daddy's (2)
Recorded By – Westwood One
Art Direction – John Sims
Artwork – Fabrice Trovato
Engineer [2nd] – Andrew Warwick
Graphics – Green Ink
Harmonica – John Elstar (tracks: 5)
Illustration – Tom Adams
Management – Joe Wynne
Mastered By – Jean-Yves Legrand
Photography By – Alex Mitram
Photography By [Back Cover] – Neil Matthews
Photography By [Front Cover] – Ian Hooton
Photography [Eletrophotography] – Laurie-Rae Chamberlain
Producer – Barry Devlin (tracks: 10, 11, 12), Tony Wilson (tracks: 10, 11, 12)
Producer, Engineer, Keyboards – Chris Tsangarides (tracks: 1-9 And 2-7, 2-8)
Tracklist:
CD1:
01. Crazy Daisy’s House Of Dreams
02. Runaway Dreams
03. Mama We’re All Crazee Now
04. Gentleman Rogues
05. Lonely Soul
06. In The Heat Of The Night
07. The Professor
08. Midnight Promises
09. Straight Forward [No Looking Back]
10. In The Heat of The Night (Long Version) (Bonus Track)
11. Needle In The Groove (Bonus Track)
12. Record Marchine (7” Version) (Bonus Track)
CD2: Bonus CD
01. Gentleman Rogues (live)
02. Letting Go (live)
03. Needle In The Groove (live)
04. Runaway Dreams (live)
05. Mama We’re All Crazee Now (live)
06. Without You (live)
07. If The Kids Are United
08. Letting Go (remix)
CD Bonus Collector 2-1 to 2-6 recorded at Daddy's, San Antonio, Texas in 1985. On Air between 13th & 15th 1985
2-8 Lettin' Go (Remix), Zomba Records 1985
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